No. 22 – Purpose And Passion

NalyRice.com
April 13, 2023

Read how I reconnected with my purpose and passion. Driving down the West Coast, Why I Write, Q2 Boutique plans, & Notes by Naly.

I took last week off to attend my Grandmother’s funeral and recharge. She’s one of the reasons why I started writing a couple years ago. It’s been tough and I haven’t worked. Grateful to have my whole family there to celebrate her life, and appreciate the one we’re living. One love.

I like driving and road trips. Growing up, my parents used to put all six of us siblings into a van and drive around.

We’d go to Niagara Falls, Toronto, the mid-West, and all over the New England region. My Dad would unfold a paper map and we’d stop at random places to eat.

A couple years ago my husband, Chris, and I took a road trip up the New England coast into Quebec, Canada. It was so much fun that we decided to put driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles on our list of adventures and experiences.

After my grandmother’s funeral, we leisurely drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles and made a couple of stops to decompress and relax. It was the rest we needed for sure and we made the best of it with sun and rain.

I usually work with intensity for 2 – 3 months and take a weekend or weeklong trip each quarter. It’s worked well for me over the last couple of years.

This note is about what I’ve been up to and my plans here on Substack moving forward.

Summary:

Why I Write

During the California roadtrip, I had a lot to think about and reflect on my Grandmother’s passing. I’ve been getting waves of emotions and stories that have come to me.

I continued to write, but haven’t published much on social media. I avoided work altogether, read, slept, and ate. I miss my grandma and feel like a part of me is missing now.

Writing is so much more to me than publishing a book, winning an award, or making money. It’s about documenting my Hmong-American experiences, something that hasn’t been done much in history.

I read a book, “The Poets and Writers Complete Guide To Being A Writer: Everything You Need To Know About Craft, Inspiration, Agents, Editors, Publishing, and The Business of Building A Sustainable Writing Career.”

It’s thorough and was a great introduction to the world of writing and publishing. I recommend it if you’re looking for a practical and resourceful tool in building a writing career.

The first chapter discusses writing a mission statement towards your writing why. Here are some reasons why I write.

What are some reasons why you write? Have you ever written a mission statement for your writing before?

Some Reasons Why I Write:

To document my life and experiences as a Hmong-American woman.
To learn and teach about marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship.
To share, read, and create stories rooted at the heart.
To support and uplift women towards entrepreneurship around the world.
To have fun and entertain.
To bring awareness to topics and causes that help others.

Q2 Plans for NalyRice.com

If you’re following along on my e-commerce journey, then you’re familiar with my announcement that I launched an online boutique and my first stationery collection.

Took 3 months to build the website with e-commerce integration. Then 1 month to get my first stationery collection off the ground from concept to completed and ready in the online boutique.

I work with intensity for a quarter and reward myself with a break after. I’ve done this for a couple years now. I like this, because it helps me stay productive while having something relaxing to look forward to. What do you do?

I took some time off last week and didn’t work at all. It was so nice to disconnect, read, listen to music, drive down the coast, and decompress with beautiful nature views.

When I work, I give it my all. When I rest, I can completely disconnect.

Now that Q2 is here, some things on NalyRice.com:

I’m currently refining the processes, documenting the whole thing, and then will look to bring someone on board to support.

Looking forward to designing the second stationery collection!

Stay tuned.

Notes by Naly on Substack

I’ve enjoyed writing Notes by Naly on Substack. The journal style of writing feels more personal to me. There are so many social media sites to be on now that you have to choose wisely as any digital creator.

I’d like to introduce video content.

I’m still figuring out the topics, length, style, and platform to host it on. I’d appreciate any feedback or tips on creating video content. In order to do this, I’ll be changing the publishing rhythm on here.

I’ve been writing two posts per week on Substack since the beginning of the year, and will change that to once per week moving forward.

This year, I took a number of steps in where I chose to invest my time with writing and social media.